EDUCAUSE | Instructional Technologies

E07 Podcast: A Strategy for Deploying Web 2.0 Technologies

gbayne — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:20:32 -0500

This forty-three minute podcast features a session from the 2007 EDUCAUSE Annual Conference. The presentation, "Riding the 2.0 Wave (Successfully): A Strategy for Deploying Web 2.0 Technologies," explains Marist College's award-winning work with Web 2.0 applications. This work has led to the development of an e-learning 2.0 strategy for the pedagogically based deployment of these technologies. This session includes methodologies for controlling costs, enhancing learning, and ensuring alignment with strategic goals. PowerPoint slides are also available for this session.

Session presenters include:

Joshua D. Baron, Director, Academic Technology and eLearning, Marist College
William T. Thirsk, VP of Information Technology/CIO, Marist College

Outsourcing Online Courses and Programs (HLH)

wallen — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:13:43 -0500

As best I can determine my university has entered into an agreement with a private company to produce and market online programs and perhaps individual courses. As described to me by a colleague, a professor will tape a semester's worth of lectures, using PowerPoint to create main points. Once these lectures are recorded the company takes over. A company person with a higher degree in the field, will serve as go-between for students and the professor. The professor will never be in direct contact with the students. The success of the venture lies in marketing by the company; create very high enrollments in order to produce impressive income for the institution and the company.

I wonder how many universities have signed on the dotted line with such companies. I also wonder how many such companies are out there.

Educational Technology: Matching the Solution to the Problem

ckeller — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:22:25 -0500

What research tells us about learning and how that can and should be used to guide the design and use of educational technology. This was the Keynote session from the 2008 Colorado Learning and Teaching with Technology Conference (COLTT).

Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge, A 21st Century Agenda for the National Science Foundation

ckeller — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 09:59:26 -0500

The National Science Foundation defines "cyberlearning" as "the use of networked computing and communications technologies to support learning." The report of the NSF Task Force on Cyberlearning, Fostering Learning in the Networked World: The Cyberlearning Opportunity and Challenge, A 21st Century Agenda for the National Science Foundation, identifies cyberlearning as having "…the potential to transform education throughout a lifetime, enabling customized interaction with diverse learning materials on any topic..."

The task force report identifies potential ways in which advanced computing and communications technologies might be leveraged to support learning, highlighting opportunities for further research. In it, the task force offers 5 recommendations for the NSF to pursue:

Help build a vibrant cyberlearning field by promoting cross-disciplinary communities of cyberlearning researchers and practitioners
Instill a "platform perspective"—shared, interoperable designs of hardware, software, and services—into NSF's cyberlearning activities
Emphasize the transformative power of information and communications technology for learning, from K to grey
Adopt programs and policies to promote open educational resources
Take responsibility for sustaining NSF-sponsored cyberlearning innovations

(For EDUCAUSE materials on cyberinfrastructure in teaching and learning, please visit EDUCAUSE Resource Library Cyberinfrastructure web page and look for the "CI Teaching & Learning" tab under "Featured Content.")

7 Things You Should Know About Wii

ckeller — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 10:53:36 -0500

The Wii is a video game system that uses a wireless controller capable of sensing position and motion, allowing users to interact with the game applications through physical movements. The controller has captured the interest of academic researchers and hackers, who have used the technology to create applications such as a collaborative choreography tool and an inexpensive, interactive whiteboard. Wii technology is used as an input device in virtual worlds and as a training tool that allows learners to perform physical tasks in a digital, risk-free environment.

The "7 Things You Should Know About..." series from the EDUCAUSE Learning Initiative (ELI) provides concise information on emerging learning technologies. Each brief focuses on a single technology and describes what it is, where it is going, and why it matters to teaching and learning. Use these briefs for a no-jargon, quick overview of a topic and share them with time-pressed colleagues.

In addition to the "7 Things You Should Know About…" briefs, you may find other ELI resources useful in addressing teaching, learning, and technology issues at your institution. To learn more, please visit the ELI Resources page.

Assessing Learning and Scholarly Technologies: Lessons from an Institutional Survey

ckeller — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 14:00:11 -0500

Surveying the university community taught us about the importance of the process as well as the survey results.

Foreign Language Faculty in the Age of Web 2.0

ckeller — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:31:59 -0500

Technological skills and understanding how to employ Web 2.0 tools to successfully support pedagogy are vital for foreign language faculty today.

Overcoming the Fear of Gaming: A Strategy for Incorporating Games into Teaching and Learning

ckeller — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:27:59 -0500

The effective use of games in academia requires a critical approach to the medium and a willingness to let go of the learning process and harness its outcomes.

Supporting Faculty Adoption of Emerging Technologies: Wanderlust or Creating a Campus Roadmap?

drupal — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:32:11 -0500

The phone rings. The caller begins with the familiar, “I’ve been thinking...” and the rest of the conversation centers on how to pilot an emerging instructional technology. Faculty who are early adopters of technology are experimenters and risk-takers; they broaden the landscape of effective teaching and learning with technology. Yes, they push the envelope, but they also offer partnership for identifying what’s scalable and sustainable for broader use. Our panelists will share their campus perspectives on adopting emerging technologies from Web 2.0 to virtual worlds, their successes and challenges, and the partnerships they’ve formed.